I always borrowed it from a friend who'd lost the instructions. We'd play for hours in the caves under the subway collecting loot and then go to the store. We tried everything we could to buy from the store but couldn't figure it out. We would quickly die via cherry bombs on Blobolonia and couldn't actually figure out what we were supposed to do.

Luckily with the new one there is no numerical limit on beans. You only get beans you'll actually use on a given level. The levels are fairly short overall so you don't get lost the way you would in the NES version. It's just puzzle solving fun and very casual. Deaths mean very little as you just respawn near where you died. If it was otherwise the game would be retardedly frustrating. On the challenge levels you do have to do it all in one go and some can be pretty rough.